Is online gambling in Singapore legal now, and how to know if legit online casinos in Singapore in 2023 all will be in our article below.
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Singapore might be considered as a tightly regulated and order society, but you shouldn’t let that fool you – Singaporeans really know how to bet. Some researchers have placed these as the 2nd biggest per capita players around the world, only trailing Australia in that category. This passion has greatly been aided by the most recent developments of 2 great resorts on the island, which are some of the most lavish legit online casinos around the world.
The government has over the years taken a strict approach towards online gambling Singapore, taking more steps to block online legit online casinos from targeting local gamblers and allowing Singapore gamblers to play real money games.
The Singapore gaming market is usually considered to be an emerging market and the traditional casinos in Singapore are flourishing despite the issues, which have largely befallen the Singaporean gambling industry. With regards to online gambling trends, the government is taken a stand to try and limit players from wagering online.
The Singaporean government has been hesitant to diversify the online casino market and gives its consent to the creation of legit online casinos resorts in Singapore. However, that changed in the year 2005 after Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister announced that 2 casinos were established in Sentosa and Marina Bayfront. The authorities decided to create these casinos to try and remain competitive and keep the economy and tourism sector stable.
While Singapore isn’t among the countries with long traditions in the legit online casinos games, the industry has gone through lots of development over the past few years and Singapore has become the 2nd most visited as well we the most influential gaming destination in Asia with yearly revenue exceeding $6 billion. Under Singaporean laws, gamblers are required to pay a fee, which largely depends on their nationality.
Singapore citizens are required to pay more than the foreigners as the officials want to discourage the locals from engaging in gaming activities and so, ultimately protect the residents from factors that are often associated with gambling, namely addiction, and overspending. Back in the year 2005, 2 legit online casinos, part of Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands were supported by authorities.
Singapore has over the years been considered as an innovator with regards to the approach authorities have towards conventional and online casino gambling and each step they took is closely regulated by other Asian nations seeking gambling clarification and diversification of the current gambling regulations.
Besides the wide range of games in the 2 venues, Singapore visitors and residents used to take part in sports betting on the international and local levels. The wide range of places where the player can place the bet, made sports betting a very widespread trend in Singapore.
Gambling and betting affairs in Singapore must be compatible with different pieces of legislation. This includes the 1952 Private Lotteries Act, which controls the taxes and activities applicable to private lotteries. The 1960 Betting Act which bookmakers and betting houses must follow.
Then there is the 1961 Common Gaming Houses that prohibit the popularization and participation in the lotto games and attendance of the common gaming houses. Finally, there is a Casino Control Act, which regulates the gaming trends performing in casino establishments. Nevertheless, it doesn’t address online casino gambling and the impact it has on Singaporean players.
The lack of clear laws regarding online legit online casinos gambling has over the years lead to breaches in the current regulations. It’s for this reason why Singapore gaming authorities opted to pay close attention to the casino gambling issue and prohibits it completely.
While online casino gambling was expected to bring stable revenue, the authorities decided to forbid online casino gambling in Singapore. As a result, the 2014 Remote Gambling Act passed by President Tony Tan approved this legislation in February 2015. According to the clauses in this Act, all forms of gambling online are completely prohibited.
In a statement that was released by the Home Affairs Ministry, these were revealed as the primary reasons why gambling online isn’t available anymore. The officials pointed to the protection they required to make sure the weak part of the population is always safeguarded against the impact of online gambling.
Besides online legit online casinos games, this Act also forbids sports wagering and betting on horse racing in Singapore, but other social games like Farmville, Crush Saga, and Candy, etc. have been well spared and are still available to Singaporeans.
As of 2nd February 2015, anyone who goes against this Act and participates in any form of online gambling faces a jail time of up to 6 months or a fine of no less than $5,000.
Furthermore, the punishment is more severe to operators of illegal gambling activities. The operators who violate such rules are subjected to fines, which exceed $500,000. You can also be imprisoned for a period of no less than 7 years.
If the illegal online casino operators have an assistant, the assistant will also be required to pay a fine and spend almost 5 years.
Even though there are very few gambling options in the country, the breach in the law allows players to take part in different gambling activities provided by offshore operators from their homes. A wide range of Internet casinos accepting Singapore players is on the rise and most of them maintain Malay and Chinese translation.
Nevertheless, the total prohibition of online gambling options raised questions regarding the expansion of these gray markets. This ban was put in place to protect minors and people susceptible to gambling addictions, but free access to unregulated gambling markets is usually considered to be more dangerous because identity verification isn’t required.
The Singaporean government didn’t seem to be too concerned about online sports betting and that stance became pretty clear back in 2014 after the legislature enacted Remote Gambling Act. This new law made gambling online completely illegal, especially from the operator’s viewpoint. According to the law that was officially enacted in February 2015, either offering players a chance to enjoy real money games or even just promoting or advertising such websites was illegal, with jail time and fines possible for the offenders.
Also, the government took various steps to block any gambling websites that tried to circumvent these laws. Authorities worked with ISPs (Internet Service Providers) to make sure that as many online casinos might be blocked, to prevent people from getting around this ban by looking for legit online casinos that tried to work around these laws.
However, all the efforts haven’t stopped some casinos from continuing to offer casinos services to gamblers in Singapore. Singapore players might not have an extensive range of casinos to choose from with regards to online casinos and many companies – especially publically-owned firms like IGT – are not interested in violating the state’s restrictions. However, there are still a few options available from trusted and reputable software developers such as Rival and RTG. This has allowed Singapore citizens to continue to play their favorite table games and other exciting games over the web for real money.
Although the Singaporean authorities might have taken a very strict stance against Internet casinos, some operators still hope they will understand that the casino industry can’t be fully contained. It’s for this reason why both the state lottery operator and Turf Club haven’t applied for any exemptions under the act, which made the online casino play illegal.
If these entities are lucky enough to get exemptions, they will start offering betting on all major sports events like Euro 2016 football tournaments and lottery products that currently exist in the real world. Government authorities have said that the applications would be taken very seriously, but they might take longer to evaluate.
In the same way as other online legit online casinos around the world, Singapore casinos online offer a wide range of high-quality games that you can play. Making a wide range of games you can play at legal Singapore online casinos is more than you can ever imagine.
Some of the games you can choose to play at some of the online casinos we’ve listed here include video poker, craps, baccarat, roulette, progressive slots, blackjack, reel slots, video slots, live dealer games, scratch cards, card games, sic bo, poker, keno, fixed odds, and casino war.
READ MORE: Top Singapore Mobile Casinos & Apps 2023
Looking for the best Singapore legit online casinos? The list is endless; just try any of the casinos we’ve listed here.
In few countries across the globe, the legal age to gamble is 18 years old. As far as you’ll be gambling online, Singapore players must be at least 21 years to gamble legally.
Singapore legit online casinos accept a wide range of payment methods including bitcoin, direct transfer, prepaid cards, PayPal, Skrill, and visa/MasterCard.
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